Every Move You Make
by Thursday
Summary: Someone is stalking Dawn, and it's just not funny anymore...
1. Say Hello to Your Friends

Every Move You Make  
  
"Mary Anne?" I said, tentatively, opening the door to my stepsister's  
bedroom.  
Mary Anne sniffled and hugged her pillow closer.  
"Go away," she said, suppressing a sob.  
"Mary Anne, you're going to have to talk about this. It's been a  
week."  
"He... he kissed," Mary Anne hiccupped. "He kissed her!" The floodgate  
that restrained her tears broke and all her hurt spilled out, at the  
admittance of the crime.  
He was Logan Bruno, Mary Anne's boyfriend (or should I say ex-  
boyfriend). They had been going out since the seventh grade. The her, was  
Cokie Mason, the notorious skank on the campus of Stonybrook Middle  
School. Apparently Mary Anne had walked in on them during a steamy make  
out session in the library after school.  
"Mary Anne," I said as I sat next to her on her bed. "He was a jerk. A  
total loser. You're better off without him."  
Mary Anne buried her head into her pillow. "But. but I. loved him! And  
I don't care if I'm better off without him! I want to be with him!"  
I heaved a sigh and checked my watch. Yikes! 5:22! But I glanced at Mary Anne's alarm clock just to make sure. You see, I use solar powered things only, and I wasn't sure if my watch had been in light lately. It might be 5:45 for all I knew! Thankfully, the supposedly accurate clock read 5:20.  
"You're going to be late to the BSC meeting," I told her cautiously.  
"I don't care."  
She wasn't interested in the BSC anymore? This was serious.  
I crossed the room and pulled open the door quietly. Mary Anne's kitten Tigger was sitting patiently outside, waiting for the perfect opportunity to sneak inside. I gently kicked him out of the way. I didn't think Mary Anne would appreciate him pouncing on her just now. I snapped the door shut and ran down the stairs, checking my watch again. 5:23. I pulled my bike out of the garage and snapped on my helmet before peddling full speed down the street.  
I guess you're a little confused right now, huh? Well, my name is Dawn Sunshine 'Sunny' Schafer, and I usually live in California with my dad and little brother, Jeff. But I'm visiting with my mom and Mary Anne, who is not only my step-sister, but also my best Stoneybrook friend. Mary Anne's dad, Richard, and my mom, Sharon, met after we moved to Stoneybrook earlier this year. They were old high school sweet hearts! Mary Anne and I reunited them, and it was love!  
I tucked my long, light blonde hair behind my ear as I turned the corner on Claudia Kishi's street. I consulted my watch one more time. 5:29. I wasn't going to make it. I would have asked Richard for a ride, but I try to avoid using cars. I'm very concerned about the environment (do you know how fast the ozone layer is deteriorating?), and I try to walk and ride my bike whenever I can. My biggest regret is that I wasn't born on Earth Day.  
I pulled into Claud's yard and let my bike fall onto the freshly cut grass, snapped off my helmet and hustled through the door and up the stairs. I stumbled into Claudia's room, gasping for air.  
"You're late," said Kristy Thomas from her usual spot in the director's chair.  
"Sorry," I said, winded. "Mary Anne."  
"Mary Anne's not coming?" asked Jessi Ramsey. She was a younger member and not quite as perceptive as the senior sitters.  
"No, she's still really bummed about Logan," I said collapsing onto Claud's bed.  
"Right," said Kristy. "Any new business?"  
My Stoneybrook friends and I are all in this club. The Baby-Sitters club. Every few days, we get together and take calls from local parents who need a reliable baby-sitter. I'm an honorary member, since I'm not usually around. But I have a club just like it back in California, only it's called the We Heart?Kids Club. But back to the BSC. It was Kristy's brainchild; she founded it last year when her mom called all around town looking for a reliable baby-sitter for Kristy's little brother, David Michael.  
Kristy's always full of great ideas, and the BSC is just one of them. She came up with Kid-Kits (boxes of puzzles, activities, and other stuff we often bring with us to baby-sitting jobs) and founded her own baseball team, Kristy's Krushers, for kids who were too young to join the Little League. As Claudia often tells us, Kristy's fashion takes a backseat to sports and the BSC. Right now, our president was wearing an old sweatshirt and jeans. Her brown hair was tucked under her baseball cap.  
Kristy was short, loud, and bossy. You know that old saying, opposites attract? That couldn't be any more true for Kristy and Mary Anne. They've been best friends since they were little, and they couldn't be any more different.  
Mary Anne, the club secretary, is tall with a short, stylish bob. She wasn't always so fashionable, though. Her dad, used to make her dress in little girl outfits and pigtails right through the seventh grade. He loosened up after he met my mom, Sharon. But anyway, Mary Anne's the sweetest, most sensitive person I know. She's a great listener, but she cries at the drop of a hat.  
"I have some new business," said Stacey McGill, reaching into her backpack. She pulled out a manilla envelope. "It's dues day!"  
We all groaned and reached into our pockets.  
"Come on, pay up," said Kristy irritably.  
I think out of all of the members of the BSC, I have the most in common with Stacey. We both have blonde hair, but Stacey's mom actually lets her get perms. We're also really into health food. Stacey has a condition called diabetes which means she can't eat a lot of sugar, or else she gets really, really sick. Don't worry though; she lives a completely normal life as long as she shoots herself up with insulin every day. It sounds really icky, I know, but Stacey insists it's no big deal. Stacey's a math wiz, and that's why she's the treasurer.  
Ring, ring.  
Claudia Kishi finished chewing on a pretzel stick and reached over to pick up the phone.  
"Baby-sitters club! Claudia Kishi, speaking. Oh, Mrs. Prezzioso. Saturday at 7?"  
All of us let out a collective groan. Jenny Prezzioso was a spoiled brat that nobody liked to baby-sit for.  
"We'll call you back in a minute and tell you who can take the job," said Claudia, hanging up the phone.  
"Who's free?" Kristy asked Abby Stevenson.  
Abby was our alternate officer, and today she was filling in for Mary Anne.  
"Um." said Abby as she checked the calendar.  
Abby has long, curly brown hair. She also has asthma and a huge list of allergies. Like Kristy, she's a huge sports fan.  
"Just Mary Anne, Claud, and Kristy" said Abby.  
Mary Anne was the only one of us who actually liked Jenny Prezzioso, but I didn't think she would be up to baby-sitting anytime soon.  
"I can't do it," said Kristy quickly.  
"Why not?" asked Stacey.  
"I'm busy."  
"With what?"  
"I have. a." Kristy mumbled something.  
Mallory Pike, one of our Junior Members was sitting nearest to Kristy.  
"You have a date?"  
Kristy blushed crimson red.  
"With Bart?" asked Jessi Ramsey, our other Junior Member.  
"Who else, Jessi?" said Stacey, annoyed.  
Bart was Kristy's semi-steady boyfriend.  
Jessi and Mallory giggled. They were so much alike. They loved horses and they were both in the sixth grade. They felt they got treated like babies at home, though, despite being the oldest. Mallory had red, curly hair and glasses. She wanted to be a writer. Jessi was black and tall, and wanted to be a ballerina.  
"Then Claudia gets it," said Abby, scribbling down her name.  
Claudia groaned and buried her head into her arms. Claudia is Asian and also the Vice President, since we use her private phone line and bedroom as headquarters. She's a true artist with a funky sense of style. Today she was wearing zig-zag patterned parachute pants with a polka-dotted purple and yellow vest. Underneath the vest, she wore a shirt that screamed peasant. You could barely make out the pattern between the folds of flimsy fabric, but you could be sure it collided with the rest of her already original outfit. She hates school, but loves Nancy Drew mysteries, and her room is full of junk food. Hidden, of course, because her parents didn't approve.  
Claudia called Mrs. Prezzioso back and informed her that she could take the job.  
I couldn't get my mind of Mary Anne the whole meeting.  
"Logan is such a jerk," I said as I munched a carrot.  
"A real blowhard," agreed Claudia.  
"He's soooo ugly," said Jessi.  
"You would think so, wouldn't you?" said Stacey accusingly.  
Now, this wasn't true. Logan was really cute, and he had a southern accent. But the rest of the club agreed with Jessi to show their support for Mary Anne.  
"I can't believe he would do that to her!" exclaimed Kristy.  
"And with Cokie Mason," said Abby, disgusted.  
"At least it wasn't with Jessi," Stacey said, under her breath.  
"We should do something to cheer her up," suggested Mallory.  
"But what?" I wondered out loud.  
The phone rang, interrupting our thoughts. Claudia took the call. When she hung up, I glanced over at Kristy. I could practically SEE the idea popping into Kristy's head.  
"Yeah! We'll set her up with someone else!"  
"Someone else?" I asked. "Who?"  
"Not any of Jessi's other friends," Stacey muttered.  
"I don't know. but I thought, you know, she could come with me and Bart." Kristy seemed determined not to say the word 'date'.  
"Ooh! Great idea!" said Stacey.  
"Mal, you and Ben are welcome to come with us, if you want," said Kristy with a wink.  
Ben was a really cute guy from Australia that Mallory was seeing.  
"The stupid croc," Stacey commented rudely, through a cough.  
Mallory blushed. "I guess," she shrugged.  
"But who can we set her up with?" Abby wondered.  
"What about Sam?" suggested Jessi.  
"Shut up nizzle no one asked you," Stacey said, yet still no one heard her.  
Sam was Kristy's older brother. He was in high school, and he had dated Stacey briefly. Stacey still kind of liked him, but she hadn't told this to Jessi.  
"Sam?" Kristy repeated. She didn't know about Stacey and Sam either.  
I looked over at Stacey. She was examining her nails, obviously not trying to look like she cared.  
"Yeah," said Jessi. "Someone she knows so she doesn't feel uncomfortable."  
Kristy pondered this. "I guess. I'll ask Sam. Maybe he'll want to help." She checked her watch.  
"Oops! 6:02! This meeting is adjourned!" she said.  
  
///  
  
Just as I had come through the front door at home after the meeting, I heard the phone ring.  
"Hello?"  
"Dawn?" asked a boy on the other end. I recognized his Southern drawl. it was Logan.  
"I need to talk to Mary Anne," he continued. "Please."  
I laughed. "After what you did to her? I'm not going to let you talk to her, Logan. You're not good enough for her. Go back to Cokie Mason."  
"Please, I need Mary Anne. I don't want her-"  
"What's the matter?" I said bitterly, interrupting him. "Cokie not good enough for you now?"  
"That's not it at all. I want to be with Mary Anne, and she wants to be with me."  
This was true. Mary Anne did want him back. but he wasn't good enough for her. Once a cheater, always a cheater. He didn't know how she felt about him. I had to lie.  
"Look, Logan," I said. "Mary Anne made it very clear to me that she wanted nothing to do with you."  
Logan paused on the other end. "Nothing?"  
His tone was sad, his voice sounded shaky. I kind of felt sorry for him.  
"Just leave her alone. She's so over you."  
He didn't say anything for a minute, and I was about to hang up on him when he said, "Dawn? Please, just. tell her I'm sorry. Can you do that? Tell her that I'm sorry?"  
He sounded genuinely sorry.  
"Fine," I said softly before hanging up. I trudged up the stairs to Mary Anne's bedroom. I put my hand on the doorknob. I could hear her crying from inside. I could give her Logan's message. but I didn't want her forgiving him. I pulled my hand away and went to my own room. I wasn't going to tell Mary Anne a thing. 


	2. Say Hello to the People Who Care

Every Move You Make  
  
Kristy hurried up the steps to my house, leaving a trail of mud from her old tennis shoes behind her. She had been practicing with the Krushers when it had started pouring rain. Being the slave driver she was, Kristy forced the children to continue playing in the mud created by the pelting drops. Only when it had started thundering and lightning did Kristy relent on her torture. After making sure all of the kids got rides home, Kristy hopped on her bike and pedaled to her own house... when another thought struck her.  
  
Mary Anne.  
  
Kristy hadn't talked to her in a week and she was almost worried. Being Mary Anne's best friend, Kristy knew she should have talked to her days ago, but she'd been so preoccupied with the BSC, Bart, and the Krushers. And although business was business, now she had no excuses. Now, she was making time.  
  
Kristy rang the doorbell and bounced from foot to foot in order to keep warm. It was freezing cold, and being wet didn't help matters. She heard a rustle in the bushes behind her and whirled around, suspicious.  
  
But nothing was there.  
  
She shook her head, plastering her hair against her face, why was she being so paranoid? It was probably just the wind. She tossed her head forward, sending water cascading all over me just as I opened the door.  
  
I frostily said, "thanks, Kristy," as I curled my lip, disgusted. Now I would have to pick more cotton from my backyard to weave more string, so I could hang up my shirt on the line to dry. Dryers are very dangerous to the environment, and wooden close-pins only demolish our rainforests that much faster. Plastic clips were inefficient as well, they waste so much water being made its not even funny!  
  
I opened the door the rest of the way slowly, not wanting her to come in, knowing full well she was going to barrel in anyway.  
  
"Hey Dawn- BRRR it's cold outside!" Kristy said, brushing against me more, creating a big wet spot on my stylish new bicycle shorts. I rolled my eyes and scoffed.  
  
"Yeah," I said a fake voice taking over. Eyeing the mud Kristy had tracked on Richard's spotless white carpet, my stomach dropped. Does she have no consideration? He was going to have a cow when he came home! "Listen, Kristy, I was just on my way out. There's a 'Save the Whales' protest going on right now and I really need to get going. Can this wait?"  
  
Kristy nodded. "It's okay, you can go. I just needed to talk to Mary Anne."  
  
"Well, good luck. She won't talk to anyone." I said, crossing my arms over my wet chest.  
  
"She'll talk to me," Kristy insisted. She was now scraping the mud off of the bottom of her shoe with her other foot. I cringed as it landed on the carpet. Then I felt a greater stab of annoyance. If Mary Anne wouldn't talk to me, why would Kristy think she would talk to her? If anything, Kristy was too bossy and rude and inconsiderate to confide in!  
  
"I don't think now is a good time," I said. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd leave your shoes outside. You know, not everyone is a millionaire who can just order 'the help' to go and clean up our messes."  
  
But Kristy chose to ignore me and ran up the stairs.  
  
I followed, but went in my room to change before coming downstairs and grabbing the picket sign I had made off of the table. The whales were depending on me to save them, and I couldn't let them down. I'd just clean up Kristy's mess after I got home.  
  
I zipped up my raincoat and started down the steps. Then I stopped as I heard a rustle in the bushes. I turned around cautiously, watching the hedge plant closely for a moment. But it was still. I shook my head. How silly of me! It was probably just Tigger. Satisfied, I continued down the steps and down the sidewalk.  
  
Kristy knocked tentatively on Mary Anne's closed door. Getting no reply, Kristy's overly domineering attitude took over and she heavily banged on the door.  
  
"Go away Dawn," was Mary Anne's harsh reply. "I already told you I don't want to talk."  
  
"It's not Dawn," Kristy said, "It's Kristy."  
  
There was a pause. "I don't want to talk to you either. The only person I want to talk to," Mary Anne paused for dramatic effect, "is Logan!" and with his name, she burst into tears.  
  
"For God's sake, Mary Anne, we're not going to let you see him! Forget about—" Kristy began, before the door she was leaning on for support swept opened causing her to fall forward.  
  
"By we, just who did you mean?" Mary Anne asked through her sobs. "Cause if you mean you and the other people that call themselves my friends, except Dawn, you can just stop right there. You didn't even make time to come see me until something of yours fell through," the normally reserved Mary Anne was deep inside this angry beast. "You didn't even make time to call, Kristy! Its not that hard and doesn't take that much time to pick up a phone, dial a number, and ask how a person is? Or is your head to far up Bart's butt to give a crap about your 'friends'" Mary Anne sneered, using her fingers as quote signs to demonstrate the genuineness of the word 'friends'. Her tears were dry as she stalked up to Kristy. "Leave me alone. And when Bart kisses another girl, and you are upset, tell me right away, so I can wait to care, if at all, for another week."  
  
The two girls looked each other square in the eye, neither backing down. Minutes that felt like hours passed before Kristy uttered, "bye, Mary Anne," through gritted teeth. Kristy ran down the stairs in her semi-clean shoes and out the door, slamming into Logan. Logan was a southern gentleman, but he didn't view Kristy as a lady, so he let her just sit there, failing to offer his hand in aid.  
  
Logan suppressed a laugh, opting to look away. "Is Mary Anne here?" He asked, his southern drawl slowing down his speaking.  
  
Kristy narrowed her eyes and got up. "What do you want?" she said, stepping out of the entrance and slamming the door behind her.  
  
"To talk to Mary Anne, obviously. It's very important."  
  
"I would say have at her, but I think I might still have a little emotion not reserved for myself so back off, you're not getting anywhere near her, after what you did."  
  
"Look, Kristy, I accept that Mary Anne probably hates me now, but I have to see her. I have to warn her about- "  
  
"Warn her?" Kristy interrupted disbelievingly. "The only warning she needed was to never date a jerk like you. Now, if you don't mind, I have to be going." Kristy brushed by him and picked her bike off of the lawn. Logan was watching her from the porch.  
  
"Don't even try to get in the house," Kristy said, buckling her helmet. "I made sure the door was locked."  
  
She hopped on her bike and peddled away as an enormous clap of thunder boomed. She coasted down the street, splashing through puddles as she went. It was raining more heavily than before now, and it had gotten dark.  
  
This is getting dangerous, Kristy told herself. I'd better hurry home.  
  
She turned the corner, reaching the beginning of Darr Street. The street was comprised of a long, steep hill that the neighborhood children loved to coast down but despised peddling up. Kristy began to descend the hill; careful not to go to quickly when the street was this wet. She had picked up speed as she neared the middle of the hill and gently squeezed the breaks by her handlebars.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
Nervous, Kristy squeezed them again- tighter this time. But she continued to fly down the hill. Panicked, she squeezed the breaks as tight as she could. By now, each of the houses was a mere blur as she flew by them.  
  
Someone cut out the breaks, Kristy realized as the bottom of the hill approached. There was a solid stone wall at the end- if she couldn't stop, she was going to crash right into it head-on.  
  
By now Kristy's hands ached from squeezing the breaks so hard. She was too petrified to scream, and the wall was becoming closer and closer- she could make out every single stone in its side- could see where Bart had carved KB and decorated it with little hearts a month before...  
  
At the last minute, Kristy made a sharp right turn to avoid the wall. Her bike slid sideways on the slippery pavement, throwing her off it. She threw out an arm to stop the fall, and it collapsed painfully as she began to slide through the gravel. Her back began to burn as it dragged on the bumpy rocks... she could do nothing to stop herself; she was paralyzed with shock and fear...  
  
Finally, everything stopped. She lay at the bottom of the hill, a few feet away from the wall, her arm twisted at a strange angle underneath her. Her bike lay on the street; it's wheels still spinning as if someone was still riding it.  
  
She groaned, feeling too weak to get up... go find help. It was too cold, she was too wet, her arm hurt too badly... all she wanted was to close her eyes... she could barely keep them open.  
  
There was another clap of thunder, and Kristy gave into the overwhelming urge to sleep. 


End file.
